How do the 2008 ADA amendments change the law?

The ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA), which was signed by President George W. Bush on September 25, 2008, and takes effect January 1, 2009, significantly broadens the reach of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Its stated purpose is to reinstate[e] a broad scope of protection to be available under the ADA. The law does this chiefly by significantly expanding the definition of the term disability and setting out rules of construction that favor the broadest possible coverage of individuals.

Disability is broadly construed so that:

1. an impairment that substantially limits one major life activity need not limit other major life activities in order to be considered a disability under the ADA, and

2. an impairment that is episodic or in remission is a disability if it would substantially limit a major life activity when active.

Mitigating measures. The amendments reject a 1999 US Supreme Court decision and its companion cases that held the question of whether an impairment substantially limits a major life activity is to be determined with reference to the effects of mitigating measures. Under the new law, consideration of mitigating measures is prohibited, with a single exception for ordinary eyeglasses and contact lenses.

Substantially limits. The legislation also rejects the High Court’s 2002 interpretation of the term substantially limits as requiring a greater degree of limitation than was intended by Congress. It also rejects EEOC regulations that define the term as significantly restricted. According to the new law, both the Court and the EEOC used too high of a standard.

Regarded as. The regarded as prong of the definition of disability was expanded. Someone claiming to have been regarded as having a disability no longer needs to show that an impairment was, or was perceived as, substantially limiting. Rather they need only show that they were subjected to a prohibited action because of an actual or perceived physical or mental impairment. However, transitory and minor impairments (those with actual or expected durations of six months or less) are not protected under the regarded as prong.

The law clarified that employers need not provide reasonable accommodations to employees or individuals who are regarded as having a disability.

Major life activities. An individual with a disability is a person who is substantially limited in one or more major life activities. The amendments expand the list of major life activities. This list includes (but is not limited to):

• caring for oneself

• performing manual tasks

• seeing

• hearing

• eating

• sleeping

• walking

• standing

• lifting

• bending

• speaking

• breathing

• learning

• reading

• concentrating

• thinking

• communicating

• working

A major life activity also encompasses the operation of a major bodily function, including but not limited to: functions of the immune system; normal cell growth; and digestive, bowel, bladder, neurological, brain, respiratory, circulatory, endocrine, and reproductive functions.